American Airlines
maintains one of its largest hubs at Philadelphia International Airport
(PHL), making up over half of all passenger traffic at the airport and around three of every four flights. The carrier serves over 120 nonstop destinations from PHL encompassing a range of domestic, regional and international services to the likes of Latin America and Europe.
While Philadelphia doesn’t quite break into the top five of American’s biggest airport hubs, it is nonetheless an integral part of the airline’s operations. The airport handles upwards of 3,800 American flights every month, amounting to around 700,000 monthly seats, including long-haul city pairings like London Heathrow, Paris and Rome among the more popular connections.
Photo: Philadelphia International Airport
The airport’s position on the US East Coast has made it a key airport for transatlantic connections, becoming the airline’s number one hub for European flights. Along with the European capital cities mentioned above, American flies to cities like Amsterdam, Barcelona, Dublin, Lisbon, Madrid and Zurich.

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Using data from aviation analytics company Cirium, let’s take a closer look at American’s PHL operations and why the airport holds such a special place with the carrier.
Inside AA’s Philadelphia hub
By the last count, PHL ranked as the sixth-busiest American Airlines hub. The airport itself handled almost 31 million passengers overall in 2024, with operations dominated by market leader AA. According to the airline, its operations accounted for 61% of all passenger movements in 2023, with the carrier operating over 340 daily flights.
Photo: EQRoy | Shutterstock
However, there are a few other airlines with a considerable presence at the airport, including:
- Frontier Airlines – 13.34%
- Delta Air Lines – 6.39%
- Spirit Airlines – 6.05%
- Southwest Airlines – 5.20%
While the airport has yet to recover its pre-pandemic peak of over 33 million annual travelers, it almost returned to capacity last year.
Busiest routes
American’s top ten busiest destinations (by flight frequencies) are all domestic connections to busy US airports. The busiest is between Boston Logan International, which sees nine daily flights with American, although this isn’t the highest capacity route in terms of seats – that would be its cross-country service to Dallas/Fort Worth, which runs eight times per day with 47,427 monthly seats each way.
Destination |
Flights (monthly) |
Seats (monthly) |
---|---|---|
Boston Logan (BOS) |
270 |
34,650 |
Orlando (MCO) |
260 |
47,360 |
Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) |
240 |
47,427 |
Charlotte Douglas (CLT) |
239 |
40,700 |
Miami (MIA) |
233 |
44,494 |
Chicago O’Hare (ORD) |
228 |
39,598 |
Phoenix (PHX) |
207 |
40,230 |
Raleigh/Durham (RDU) |
199 |
25,774 |
Tampa (TPA) |
177 |
31,484 |
Los Angeles (LAX) |
175 |
34,414 |
As for American’s busiest international route out of Philadelphia, flights to Toronto Pearson International (YYZ) – located only 300 nautical miles away across Canada’s eastern border – run at a peak four-times daily frequency.
Photo: EQRoy | Shutterstock
The carrier’s ties to the city of Philadelphia run deep, with over 8,600 employees in the Philadelphia area and more than 10,000 in the state of Pennsylvania. American Airlines is also the official airline of the city’s NFL team, the Philadelphia Eagles, who recently won the Super Bowl.
American’s fleet at PHL is dominated by its narrowbodies—which include Airbus A319, A321ceo, A321neo, and the Boeing 737-800 and 737 MAX 8 models—while American Eagle flights are operated by Bombardier CRJ and Embraer ERJ aircraft. For its longer international services, the airline will call upon its widebody fleet of Boeing 777 and 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
The international picture
PHL is currently American’s fastest-growing hub for international flights with 14% more flights this summer compared to last year, ranking as the carrier’s fourth-busiest airport for international connections. Around one in ten AA flights out of PHL are international-bound, with the carrier due to operate a peak 43 daily departures this summer.
The airline’s investment in international connections was noted by the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, with President and CEO Gregg Caren, who said that American’s confidence “underscores the interest we’re seeing in Philadelphia from business and leisure travelers from all over the world.”
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
While Toronto is the most frequent American international connection with up to four daily flights, the highest in capacity is its double-daily 787 Dreamliner flights to London Heathrow. In fact, with the route also served by British Airways, London Heathrow ranks as the busiest international connection at Philadelphia.
American maintains connections with a total of 26 countries from Philadelphia, ranging from nations closer to home – like Canada and Mexico – to regions as far as Qatar, Denmark and Italy. However, PHL’s big selling point would be its extensive European connections. From Philadelphia, one can take a direct flight to the likes of:
- Amsterdam
- Athens
- Barcelona
- Copenhagen
- Lisbon
- London
- Madrid
- Milan (starting in May)
- Nice
- Paris
- Rome
- Venice
- Zurich
Photo: Angel DiBilio | Shutterstock
The airline has added a handful of international connections within the past 18 months, including Copenhagen, Naples, and Nice, and will soon launch other routes to the likes of Edinburgh and Milan. While transatlantic connections are, of course, a huge part of AA’s PHL operations, the airline also serves an extensive range of non-transatlantic international destinations, including:
- Aruba
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Bermuda
- Cancun
- Cayman Islands
- Costa Rica
- Dominican Republic
- Jamaica
- Montreal
- Puerto Rico
- Turks and Caicos
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Martin
- Toronto
Premium motorcoach connections
American Airlines has partnered with motorcoach company Landline to connect PHL with a handful of regional airports, improving the transfer experience for its customers. Landline operates a fleet of premium motorcoaches that are treated essentially as a ground flight by American – this means you book your itinerary with American as normal, and you’ll still get AAdvantage miles!
Image: Landline
This service currently connects PHL to four regional airports:
- Allentown/Bethlehem (ABE)
- Atlantic City (ACY)
- Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AVP)
- Wilmington (ILG)
PHL airport experience
As the 21st busiest airport in the US with seven passenger terminals, the airport experience in PHL can vary depending on the terminal. According to a study from research firm J.D. Power, the airport ranked bottom for passenger satisfaction in the ‘Large Airport’ category, and many of its facilities could use a refresh.
This is evident in the fact that its newest terminal is now over 20 years old, while others are around the half-century mark. Nonetheless, you’ll still find all the shops, restaurants and cafes you’d need for a major international airport, and PHL has been one of the more on-time airports in the US in recent years.
American Airlines lounges
American premium customers can enter the airline’s Admirals Club—in fact, there are currently three Admirals Club lounges available, as well as a fourth lounge that will be renovated and become part of the carrier’s upcoming Flagship Lounge, penciled in for a summer 2025 opening.
The airline has Flagship Lounges at five locations around the country—Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, and New York JFK—and has long planned to launch its sixth in Philadelphia. However, the COVID-19 pandemic scuppered plans for a 2020 launch, but things are on track for an opening this summer.
The new facility will be located between gates A15 and A16 and also include a revamped Admirals Club, making PHL one of the best-equipped for American lounges. While a concrete opening date has not yet been announced, it will likely be sometime in June or July.

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Flagship lounges are open to business and first class passengers (with AA or a oneworld partner airline), AAdvantage members with Executive Platinum, Platinum Pro, or Platinum status, or oneworld Emerald/Sapphire status passenger. If you aren’t any of these and are flying in economy, you can still purchase access to the lounge for a one-off $150 fee.
What the future holds for PHL
Having topped 30 million annual passengers again for the first time since 2019, PHL expects to continue its busy form in 2025. Heather Redfern, public affairs manager at PHL, noted the 10% year-on-year increase and pointed to new international services coming this summer as a sign of further growth. Redfern told PBS,
“Aeromexico is coming to Philadelphia for the first time with a daily non-stop service to Mexico City starting in June. The FIFA Club World Cup matches are coming, and it’s really the start of everything that’s going to happen for 2026.”
Philadelphia will be a key airport during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be hosted in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The city itself will be one of 16 host cities during the soccer tournament, and its airport will have something of a trial run this summer with the FIFA Club World Cup taking place between June 14th and July 13th, 2025. This will be the first expanded edition of the tournament to feature 32 teams, with Philadelphia a host city.
Photo: Philadelphia International Airport
With the airport continuing its growth trajectory, it could possibly break its passenger record in 2025, if not the next year. It continues to invest in modernizing its facilities and has over $1 billion committed to terminal and landside projects. Some of its recent projects include $39 million to modernize the airport’s restrooms and a sustainable revamp of the SEPTA Airport Line.